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Obama announces $7 billion in Africa aid

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Project will provide "the energy to lift people out of poverty," Obama says

Fund will be distributed over next five years, White House says

The preliminary setup will include Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria and Tanzania

It comes as China aggressively engages the continent

U.S. President Barack Obama pledged $7 billion Sunday to help combat frequent power blackouts in sub-Saharan Africa.

Funds from the initiative, dubbed Power Africa, will be distributed over the next five years. Obama made the announcement during his trip to South Africa, the continent's biggest economy.

"Access to electricity is fundamental to opportunity in this age. It's the light that children study by, the energy that allows an idea to be transformed into a real business. It's the lifeline for families to meet their most basic needs, and it's the connection that's needed to plug Africa into the grid of the global economy," he said.

Two-thirds of the population of sub-Saharan Africa lacks access to electricity, including more than 85% of those living in rural areas, the White House said.

"A light where currently there is darkness -- the energy to lift people out of poverty -- that's what opportunity looks like," Obama told students at Cape Town University. "So this is America's vision: a partnership with Africa for growth, and the potential for every citizen, not just a few at the top."

Photos: Obama's tour of Africa 26 photos

Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – President Barack Obama kicks around an energy-generating soccer ball at a power plant in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Tuesday, July 2. Obama was pushing for partnerships in energy as he concluded a three-nation trip to Africa. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, third from right, joined Obama at the Symbion Power Plant at Ubungo.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Tanzania's president, left, watches as Obama plays with the energy-generating soccer ball at the Symbion Power Plant on July 2. "I don't want to get too technical, but I thought it was pretty cool," Obama said of the ball that harnesses kinetic energy to provide power.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Former President George W. Bush joins Obama during a July 2 wreath-laying ceremony in Dar es Salaam to honor the victims of the 1998 terror attack at the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – A Tanzanian band plays as the U.S. president and first lady Michelle Obama arrive in Dar es Salaam on Monday, July 1.

Obama's tour of Africa – Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete toasts Obama during an official dinner at the State House in Dar Es Salaam on July 1.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Obama and Kikwete, right, are greeted by a cheering crowd as they arrive at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday, July 1.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Ahmed Kathrada, a former fellow prisoner with Nelson Mandela, shows the Obama family around Robben Island in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday, June 30. The island, where prisoners were banished and isolated during the apartheid era, is now a museum.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Obama looks out the window of the cell on Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Obama delivers a speech at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa, on June 30.

Obama's tour of Africa – Obama, foreground left, and first lady Michelle Obama, beside him, are greeted by South African President Jacob Zuma and his wife, Tobeka Madiba Zuma, on the steps of the Union Buildings upon their arrival in Pretoria, South Africa, on Saturday June 29.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Obama answers a question during a town hall meeting at the University of Johannesburg Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 29.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama and Zuma speak during a press conference at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 29.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Marine One takes off as the Obamas leave the Union Buildings on June 29 in Pretoria.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Michelle Obama participates in a discussion with students on the importance of education June 29 at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg.

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Obama's tour of Africa – USAID administrator Rajiv Shah, left, looks on as Obama talks to Nimna Diayte, president of the Farmers Federation, during a food security expo on Friday, June 28, in Dakar, Senegal. Obama met with farmers, innovators, and entrepreneurs whose new methods and technologies are improving the lives of smallholder farmers throughout West Africa.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama shows the White House press corps what rice looks like before it's threshed on June 28 in Dakar.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama toasts with Senegalese President Macky Sall during an official dinner at the Presidential Palace in Dakar on Thursday, June 27.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Barack and Michelle Obama look out from the Door of No Return while touring the House of Slaves at Goree Island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, on Thursday, June 27.

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Photos: Obama's tour of Africa26 photos

Obama's tour of Africa – Senegal's President Macky Sall, right, and Sall's wife, Marieme Faye Sall, left, welcome the president and first lady as they arrive at the presidential palace prior to meetings in Dakar on June 27.

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Obama's tour of Africa – President Obama reviews an honor guard outside the presidential palace in Dakar on June 27.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama talks with Sall during a bilateral press conference on June 27.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama and Sall walk to a press conference.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama talks on June 27 during a press conference.

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Obama's tour of Africa – Obama speaks with locals as he tours Goree Island off the coast of Dakar on June 27.

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The program includes $1.5 billion from the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and $5 billion from the Export-Import Bank, the White House said. Sub-Saharan Africa will need more than $300 billion to achieve universal electricity access by 2030, it said.

The preliminary setup will include Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

"These countries have set ambitious goals in electric power generation, and are making the utility and energy sector reforms to pave the way for investment and growth," a White House statement said.

Obama's three-nation African trip started in Senegal and will end in Tanzania this week. The visit aims to bolster U.S. investment opportunities, address development issues such as food security and health, and promote democracy.

It comes as China aggressively engages the continent, pouring billions of dollars into it and replacing the United States as Africa's largest trading partner.

Obama applauded China's investment in Africa, saying he is "not threatened by it."

Africa's greater integration into the global economy will benefit everyone with the potential creation of new jobs and opportunities, he said.

"I'm here because I think the United States needs to engage with a continent full of promise and possibility," Obama said. "It's good for the United States. I welcome the attention that Africa is receiving from China, Brazil, India and Turkey."

However, he urged African officials to ensure that those who invest in the continent and its natural resources benefit Africans in terms of jobs and other assets.

Obama also visited Robben Island, where anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela spent a majority of his 27-year imprisonment, on Sunday. And he spoke at Cape Town University, the site of a famous speech by Robert F. Kennedy at the height of apartheid in 1966.

Obama heads next to Tanzania, where he is scheduled to attend events until Tuesday.